Best Kept Secret
by owugirl10
Summary: No one knew at the time, but it turns out that Harry had more to do with Dean and Ginny's breakup than they let on. Before their public kiss in the Common Room, Ginny and Harry had been starting their relationship in secret.
1. The Beginnings

Disclaimer: I would love to be able to say that I was J. K. Rowling using a penname, but alas, I am not so anything you recognize does not, in fact, belong to me.

Summary: No one knew at the time, but it turns out that Harry had more to do with Dean and Ginny's breakup than they let on. Before their public kiss in the Common Room, Ginny and Harry had been starting their relationship in secret.

**Best Kept Secret**

Harry had finally discovered a distraction from his growing feelings for Ginny. He found that if he buried himself in his studies in a secluded corner of the library, he could clear his head of her enough to actually get homework done on his own, instead of relying on Hermione all the time. He was certain she had noticed his decreased dependence on her for help and had also ascertained why this lack of neediness had transpired and she had enough tact to know that he wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone yet.

On this particular day, Harry was also trying to process what he had learned the night before with Dumbledore. He reveled in the late April sunshine that was cascading through the window by the table he'd found. The fact that he now knew exactly what it would take to defeat Voldemort was a strange kind of relief to him. While only two of the Horcrux had been destroyed, leaving four known Horcruxes left for Harry to find and destroy, he was relieved to finally just know what it would take to rid the world of evil personified.

He was just getting ready to work on his potions essay they had due that week when he heard someone muttering angrily to themselves as they entered his section of the library. When he looked up to see who the noise maker was, the monster that had taken up residence in his chest roared awake. The strange part was Ginny didn't seem to notice that anyone was there.

"Gin? Are you ok?" Harry asked.

Startled, Ginny took in her surroundings for the first time. She gave Harry a look that let him know that she was not ok. The anger that was radiating off of her was unmistakable. "NO! I AM NOT OK! Dean is such a prat! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and I can most certainly get myself in and out of the portrait hole without any help! He just doesn't get that I don't expect him to be there for me every single minute of every single day!"

Harry had started to blush at the point where she mentioned the portrait hole, since it had been him who had bumped her the night before when he was leaving under the invisibility cloak and not Dean. But he was certainly not going to help Dean by telling her that.

Ginny seemed to realize that she had just ranted at Harry and blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to shout like that. I guess I just needed to get that off my chest."

"It's not a problem, Ginny. I am glad you felt you could confide in me like that. I'd like to think we're friends, not just acquaintances because I'm best mates with your brother." Harry said, not sure where this confidence was coming from all of the sudden.

"I'm glad that we can finally be friends outside of Ron. It's nice to actually be able to talk to you without blushing or putting my elbow in the butter dish," Ginny laughed at the memory of how foolish she had been that first summer with Harry.

"Since we've established that we are friends, can I ask you a personal question?" Harry decided to press his luck.

"Of course," Ginny replied.

Harry gulped, hoping she didn't take what he was about to ask the wrong way. "Do you really like Dean? It seems like you two make a better set of friends than a couple to me."

Ginny wasn't sure where Harry was going with this but if it was where she hoped he was going, she was certainly going to be honest with him. "Truthfully? No I don't care for him as if he were my boyfriend. We were always better at being friends. But I don't see why you would care about that detail. It's my relationship to decide what to do with, not yours. I can take care of myself," she repeated for the second time that evening.

"I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself, but sometimes it helps to have someone to talk these things out with," Harry stated plainly.

Ginny wasn't blind, however. She hadn't missed the way Harry had started to look at her after he and Ron had walked in on her and Dean making out in the short-cut corridor that night after practice. It was clear that something about his feelings for her had changed. And she wasn't sure, but she thought they may have even started changing before that. However, she wasn't about to make this easy on him. He'd made her wait for him for almost six years, he could wait for a bit longer while she had her fun.

It didn't occur to Ginny that this should have been a sign that her relationship with Dean needed to end before things with Harry picked up, but she wanted to see how far Harry was willing to take this conversation before she worried about that.

"I suppose you're right," she finally stated. "It helps to know that you really care about how things are going with me, after everything we've been through."

Harry knew she was referring to more than just the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. A lot of time had passed since then and Ginny seemed to have grown out of her childish fantasies of him, which is probably what helped him to see her as more than just Ron's little sister.

"I would like to think so. You and your family mean a lot to me, Ginny," Harry stated. And then, under his breath, he added, "You mean more to me than you could possibly know."

Ginny had a pretty good idea what Harry had mumbled to himself. She moved her chair closer to Harry. "What would you suggest I do about Dean? I think it's pretty clear that our relationship isn't going anywhere, but I'm not sure if he sees it that way and I don't want to hurt him." As she said this, she subconsciously leaned in closer to Harry so that their noses were mere inches from touching.

Neither one of them noticed this however.

"You should tell him how you're feeling. It's not going to do either of you any good if you can't express what you're feeling. Even if you don't have romantic feelings for him, he'll thank you in long run." Harry was starting to notice just how close they were to each other when he caught a whiff of that mysterious aroma that had been a part of the Amortentia potion they had learned about that first day of Potions class. It was then that everything snapped into place for him. He hadn't been able to place that scent at the time, but it was clear now that it had been the scent of Ginny's shampoo that she used in her hair.

He threw caution to the wind now that he knew how he truly felt, and closed that gap between their lips.

It was pure bliss right from the start. Soft at first but growing in intensity as Ginny recovered from the shock of Harry's initiative.

They were interrupted, however, by the sound of someone yelling, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"

They broke apart and turned to find that their unexpected audience was none other than Dean Thomas. Harry felt his stomach drop at the sight of him, afraid that Dean was going to start a scene, or a fight.

It was Ginny who broke the tense quiet. "Dean, you know that we aren't going anywhere, we argue all the bloody time! And it's not like I planned on this happening. But after our row last night, it was only a matter of time before we broke up anyway. Neither one of us is happy with the way things are going."

"So that gives you an excuse to go and snog Potter behind my back! We are still together and that means something to me! Even if we aren't happy," Dean shot back at her.

"Maybe I should go," Harry said.

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Dean shot back. "You're what she wants, and that's been clear from the beginning for me, I was just too ignorant to do anything about it."

Both Ginny and Harry looked at Dean, dumbfounded. It really couldn't be this easy could it. Was he really going to break things off without a fight?

"Oh don't look at me like that. I'm not a masochist. I can be man enough to admit that what you two seem to have is pretty great. So I'll let you two ride off in the sunset together," Dean surprised even himself with this statement.

Ginny wasn't sure what made him do it but she was grateful that he was able to be so mature about the entire situation. This is what had drawn her to him in the first place. "Thank you Dean. It means a lot that we can deal with this so maturely, snogging aside of course."

At this point, however, Harry had to interject. "Dean, I would really appreciate it if you would keep this whole thing to yourself for the time being."

Ginny looked at him with a look worthy of her mother when the twins had caused something to explode in the house, and Harry shrunk away, fearing for his life.

"What do you mean, you'd appreciate if he kept this to himself? Are you just messing with me? I hope you don't think you can get away with that, Harry Potter! I am not one to be toyed with!" Ginny shouted.

"Look, I'm going to bow out before I get caught in the crossfire," Dean said. "I will keep everything that happened here a secret unless told otherwise. Good luck, Harry."

After Dean was gone, Ginny cornered Harry and demanded an explanation.

"Gin, it's has absolutely nothing to do with my feelings for you. I care about you more than I thought possible. But do you really think that any of this would go over well with Ron right now? I don't want to jeopardize what I have with either one of you! You know that Ron will need to be eased into something like this."

"I suppose that makes sense, but Harry, we can't keep this a secret forever. I won't do that to myself. I care a lot about you and I think you know that. The only thing keeping you from receiving the business end of my Bat-Bogey Hex is the fact that I've always wondered what it would be like to have a secret relationship. The idea of sneaking around is kind of thrilling."

And with that, she kissed like she'd never kissed anyone before.

LOVE

Over the next two weeks or so, Harry and Ginny took every minute they could spare, without raising questions from their friends, to be together. Thanks to the Marauder's Map, they were able to find some much hidden corners of the castle, so they could carry on their secret snogging sessions. Neither one of them was ready to go any further than that.

That's not to say that all they did was snog. They also took these stolen moments to talk. They talked about everything from Harry's growing obsession with what Malfoy was up to, to what kind of life they wanted to have after Hogwarts. It was easy for Harry to forget about his destiny with Voldemort when he was with Ginny. He could see that future they were talking about and he could see it with Ginny, though neither one of them mentioned this future being with each other. They were both all too aware subconsciously of what was lurking out in the real world.

Harry had never felt this close to either Ron or Hermione. This was a different kind of connection that Harry was sure he would only ever be able to find with Ginny. And Ginny was finding that this feeling was new to her as well. Michael was just another pretty face that she hadn't really cared for in the end and Dean was always more of a friend than a boyfriend. But with Harry, she had it all. The looks, the friend, the feelings, she finally had what she had been yearning for.

Their secret romance even helped spur on Quidditch practices. They were both so happy, especially when Katie returned from St. Mungo's, that nothing could kill the high they were experiencing.

That was until Harry stumbled upon Draco in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and got himself detention with Snape, effectively banning him from playing with the team in the final game that would decide who won the Quidditch Cup.

Harry was so sure that Ginny would leave him after what he did to Draco that he avoided her for days. And on the other side, Ginny couldn't figure out what was going on with Harry and why he suddenly felt he couldn't trust her with his secrets.

Finally, she tracked him down one night in his secret library hideout and questioned him about what was going on.

"Harry, why have you been avoiding me?" she asked.

"I didn't think you'd want to be with me after what I did and how I let down the team," Harry confessed. "I was trying to prolong the fact that you were going to break things off with me as long as possible. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be and I wasn't willing to let that go if I could help it."

"Harry James Potter! You think that just because you made a mistake and hurt another human being that I'm going to just walk away!" Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What I did was aweful and I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to be around me after I so callously threw a curse, when I wasn't sure what it even did." Harry told her.

"Harry, if it had been me who had thrown the curse and gotten myself landed in detention til the end of time, would you have left me?" Ginny prodded.

"Of course not! You're the most important thing in my life, nothing could make me leave you," Harry confessed.

Then what would make you think that I would do that to you? I need you just as much as you need me. If I left you at the first sign of anything less than perfection that would make me a pretty horrible person."

"So you're not here to tell me to get lost?" Harry asked.

"No, you prat! However, I do think we need to figure out a way to tell Ron about us. We can't hide our relationship forever, despite how much fun we've been having."

"I agree. I think we almost revealed ourselves when you were arguing with Hermione about what I did the night of the incident. But can we discuss it after the Quidditch game and my detention tomorrow? I'm wiped and you need your rest before the big game tomorrow."

"That sounds like a date to me! We can sneak out of the post-game party and find our favorite hiding place to discuss how we're going to break the news to Ron…and possibly do some other things," Ginny taunted him.

LOVE

Detention was like torture the next morning. Endlessly reorganizing files was less than enthralling to Harry. Especially when all he wanted to do was find out how the game had gone and wrap Ginny in his arms.

When he was finally released and made it to the common room, he lost all train of sane thought. From the second he walked into the Common Room and realized that they had won the Quidditch Cup, all he wanted to do was kiss Ginny and congratulate her for a job well done. And that's exactly what he did.

It wasn't until they broke apart for air that Harry realized what he had done. Their secret was out. And of course Ron was standing right there. It turned out that after all their worrying, that Ron seemed ok with the two of them being together.

Harry also had to hand it to Dean for keeping up appearances by breaking the glass in his hand. He played the part of the slighted ex-boyfriend perfectly. But Harry knew that everything was fine. And that everything would be fine for the foreseeable future. And with that Harry and Ginny began their public relationship.

LOVE

A/N: Before you say anything, I know that this takes some liberties from Cannon. I am aware that at this point in the story, Ginny and Dean were already broken up but since this story strays from Cannon anyway, I figured it wasn't such a big deal!

This idea has been floating around in my head for a while and, in a need to procrastinate on my finals, I decided tonight was a great time to actually put it down on paper, for lack of a better phrase. I was reading a fic on here that was Ginny's side of the story (In the Words of Ginevra Molly Potter by thejealousone, you should all go read it, it's fantastic). In this story Ginny realizes that Harry's behavior is changing towards her while she is still with Dean but she tells Hermione that she can't just end it with Dean because Harry finally woke up and started noticing her. But then I started to wonder what it would have been like if they got together initially before J. K. has them get together in the book and they just kept it a secret. So here it is! Let me know what you think!


	2. Update!

I wanted to let my amazing followers of this story know that I am considering expanding this into a multi-chapter story! I just need to some time to map out how/where I want the story to go and I will keep you all posted on progress as I make some! Please leave me a review if there is anything you particularly want to see in the story if I choose to continue or if you think I should leave it as it is!


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